Stop Cash Shrink

President Trump’s nominee for Attorney General Bill Barr told senators in his confirmation hearing that he’s not interested in attacking state-legal cannabis businesses.

Responding to questions posed by Sen. Cory Booker (D-New Jersey) and Sen. Kamala Harris (D-California), Barr referenced the Cole Memo, an Obama-era guidance for the Department of Justice that was rescinded last January by anti-cannabis former Attorney General Jeff Sessions. That document previously protected cannabis businesses in states that had legalized from federal interference. Since the memo’s cancellation, however, there was renewed uncertainty regarding federal intervention with state-legal markets.

Barr even admitted in the hearing that the “current system is untenable,” suggesting that Congress should pass legislation to address the disparity between state and federal laws.